Seminar on Endangered Languages “Language Death” David Crystal Chapter 1: What is Language Death? Chapter 5: What can be done?

Language Death Number of Languages Names of Languages How to count Names of Languages Own name, other’s names Language vs Dialect “mutually intelligible” But exceptions: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian Half the current languages will die (?)

How Many Speakers to Survive Is 500 enough? Depends on community size Depends on community dispersal Depends on community age distribution How many is enough? Top 20 languages spoken by 50% of people Dutch could become a language for home use only; not for business, education and science

Different types of Death Absorption Code switching, fixed phrases Lexicon continues in plant and place names

What can be done? An endangered language will progress if its speakers increase their prestige within the dominant community An endangered language will progress if its speakers increase their wealth relative to the dominant communit An endangered language will progress if its speakers increase their legitimate power in the eyes of the dominant community

What can be done? An endangered language will progress it its speakers have a strong presence in the educational system An endangered language will progress if its speakers can write their language down An endangered language will progress if its speakers can make use of electronic technology